A Blog dedicated to the socialist-realist art of the communist period in Central and Eastern Europe which can be found in public places, including murals and mosaics on public buildings and statues and sculptures of triumphant workers, scientists and soldiers building socialism together. These are photographs I've taken over the years while travelling throughout the region.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Monument in Kopčany, Slovakia

This monument is in the village of Kopčany in south-west Slovakia, near the border with the Czech Republic. It commemorates the Russian soldiers who died during the liberation of the village from the Nazis on April 10, 1945. It lists the name, rank and date of birth of each soldier, and at the bottom it also mentions nine more soldiers who could not be identified because they were not carrying papers. It is unusual to find such a monument in Slovakia which is only written in Russian, usually the captions are written in both Russian and Slovak. The most interesting part of the inscription is the line at the bottom, which reads "Sleep peacefully in brotherly ground". Therefore the brotherly Slavic relations between Russians and Slovaks were called upon to show that the Russian soldiers were not buried there in foreign soil, but died in the cause helping a fellow Slavic, socialist country.

About Me

This blog is based on my personal travel experiences while living and working in Russia, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic for ten years. I am now an academic in the field of East European studies, focusing on the politics and history of Slovakia and western Ukraine. I have a particular interest in the folk culture and wooden architecture of the Carpathian mountains. Eastern Slovakia and Ukraine's Zakarpattya region are my favourite places to explore - I'm familiar with those regions on a village by village level.